The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into chipmaker Broadcom’s proposed $61 billion acquisition of cloud computing company VMware.

With invitation to comment closing on 6 December, the CMA said it is considering whether the buyout would result in the creation of a relevant merger situation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 and, if so, whether the creation of that situation may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition in the UK or other markets.

As use cases for cloud technology continue to grow, the preliminary motion for the investigation into the takeover comes after the CMA announced probes into Google and Apple’s market power in mobile browsers and Apple’s restrictions in cloud gaming earlier this year.

The CMA also investigated Nvidia’s planned acquisition of semiconductor giant Arm earlier this year. Having since fallen apart, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, which currently owns Arm, said at the time that the deal had been officially ended due to “significant regulatory challenges”.

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